Rescue ax



July 9, 1957 M. BxsHAF 2,798,292

RESCUEAX Filed March 4, 1954 MINI-lign IIIHUJw" "IV Aluminium United States Patent k(i) F RESCUE AX Application March 4, 1954, Serial No. 413,992'

4 claims. (ci. :io- 318) The present invention relates to a novel rescue ax and more particularly an ax especially suitable for cutting into and through. sheet metal in rescue operations.

According to the present invention a novel implement has been devised to Vfacilitate chopping into and through debrisrinvolvin'g sheet metal such as at the'scene of airplane Vaccidents or crashes, automobile crashes, streamlined ltrain pile-ups, and the like. Under these circumstances the saving of lives often depends upon speedy reaching of the victims.

Axes with conventional blades or cutting edges tend to jam in the sheet metal debris or panels chopped into. What is even more serious, Where the conventional head is successfully driven into a sheet metal piece or mass, the axhead all too often -slips in behind the sheet metal and catches thereon or causes the ax handle to strike the metal with often times splintering eiect. Thus, conventionally edged axes cause serious delay of the rescuer in reaching the victims, an-d should the ax handleV be broken during the rescue operation may destroy the only available tool effective for getting through the sheet metal debris in time to do any good. This is especially vital under rescue conditions where iire is a hazard such as in airplane and automobile accidents.

An important object of the present invention is to prov-ide an ax structure provided with a cutting edge especially adapted for chopping into and through sheet metal.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ax edge for rescue axes especially adapted for chopping sheet material suchas sheet metal.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ax blade equipped with means to enable eihcient chopping into sheet metal without overru-nning through the chopped material, whereby catching of the ax head behind the chopped material is avoided and the ax handle is protected.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a rescue ax blade having an ecient combination of cutting edge and overrun stop means.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description -of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a hand ax embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 isa top plan view of the ax;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view =of the -ax head; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the ax blade showing the same as in the process of chopping through a sheet metal member.

As shown on the drawings:

A rescue ax embodying the present invention has a head and a handle 11. The size of the head 10 and the length and size of the handle 11 will depend upon whether a short handled, one-hand ax is provided or whether a long handled, two-hand axis desired. Smaller Patented July 9, 1957 ICC 2 sizes of ax are` adapted for emergency or rescue kits or packs, while the larger sizes of ax will be suitable for the rescue equipment of tire trucks, mounted rescue squads, the rescue kits often carried by trains, airplanes, and the like.

lWhile the ax head 10 may be made from suitable grade of steel, the handle 11 may be a conventional Wooden handle extending into an opening in the body of the head (Fig. 2), or a'rnetal handle and may, if desired, berf'ormed integrally in one piece with the body of the head;

By the present invention there is provided on a blade portion 12 that. extends generally in the direction of the handle 11 or the handle opening and is provided with a leading or crown edge and an opposite `or trailing edge, a cutting edge 13 extending across the extremity part of the blade` 12 from the leading edge in a direction generally diagonally toward the handle or opening and the trailing, edge., As best seen in Figures 2 and. 3, the blade 12, tapers in the usual manner at its sides toward the cuttingedge 13.

`In order torfacilitate4 penetration of the edge 13 into material to be chopped by the ax, the lend `of the cutting edge that is remote from the handle 11 (at the top of Fig. 1), is sharpened to a penetrating point 14 at juncture of the cutting edge with the leading or crown edge dening the ax head.

From` the leading edge at the penetrating tip or point 14the cutting edge 13 inits diagonal or oblique extent has alternate portions sloping toward the handle or kopening joined' by step portions generally parallel to the handle or opening, with said portions merging gently to form -a wavy cutting edge. Short of the trailing edge of the blade 12, a sharpened arcuate portion 15 joins the wavy cutting edge to an integral stop leg 17. The leg` 17 extends from the trailing edge in a direction generally diagonally toward the handle or opening and the leading edge -of the blade 12. Throughout its length, from the penetrating tip or point 14 to the tip -of the leg or spur 17, the cutting edge 13 is preferably formed by taper grinding the blade, preferably uniformly from each side of the blade 12. In view of the use for which the ax edge 13 is devised, the taper into which it is ground is preferably of somewhat. lower pitch than the blades of conventional axes designed for chopping wood. Thus, as the edge 13 drops back from*- the penetrating point 14 to the bottom of the arcuate portion or recess 15 and into the thicker part of the blade portion 12, the sides of the edge 13 slope to progressively greater width, coincident with the progressively greater width from the foremost extremity of the blade portion 12 inwardly to the thickest portion of the ax head.

In practice it has been found that severance of sheet materials such as sheet metal by the cutting edge 13 and more particularly the inwardly oblique major portion of such cutting edge extending from the penetrating point 14 is greatly -enhanced by having such edge portion of the generally sinuous, undulating wavy, or generally corrugated form and with the undulations 4or waves fairly shallow. That is, the undulations or waves should be lonly slight deviations from a straight edge so as to avoid any sharp discontinuity of the cutting edge.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, the oblique edge portion is provided with three convex waves land three adjacent -concave waves. In addition, it has been found advantageous to have the peaks `of the convex undulations lie on a fairly large radius arc whose center is substantially to the left of edge 13 as that edge is drawn in Figure 1 so that instead of the major oblique portion of the edge 13 extending inwardly on a straight oblique line it extends inwardly on a generally convex arc which,

is subdivided by a plurality of shallow waves. When chopping into and through a piece of sheet metal the generally inwardly .slanted undulating or waved major extent of the cutting edge 13 with its succession of alternating convex or step and concave or sloping lbut nevertheless uninterrupted cutting edge structure appears to encounter substantially less resistance then -a conventional ax blade edge. Probably the areas of relief to the wedging action afforded by the narrower cross section at the root of the convex undulation or step portions of the edge following the wider cross section roots of the edge at the concave undulation or sloping portions of the edge as the edge travels in severing relation through a piece of material is -a contributing factor to the successful, efficient functioning of the unique edge Vstructure during a chopping action.

In Figure 4 the ax blade 12 is shown approximately as it appears while the edge structure is chopping through a piece of sheet metal S when the ax is wielded in a typical chopping motion through the medium of the handle 11. In such a chopping motiony the ax describes an arc of approach toward the sheet metal surface which brings the penetrating tip or point 14' against the sheet metal surface in advance of the remainder of the cutting edge 13 which then follows by virtue of the momentum of the ax head and cuts on through the sheet metal panel to cut a gash therein of a length governed' by the thickness of the material being chopped and the force with which the lax head is impelled thereagainst in the lchopping stroke.

By virtue of the stop linger or the spur portion 17 movement of the ax blade 12 all the way through the panel of material being chopped is resisted, and before the end of the chopping stroke the linger -or spur 17 will function as a back-out or retraction fulcrum should a fairly wedged grip of the material being chopped be encountered against the portion of the ax blade penetrating the panel. For cutting efficiency, of course, the cutting edge 13 continues uninterruptedly from the depth of the recess 15 to substantially the extremity of the linger.l However the finger portion of the cutting edge is .angularly disposed relative to the major, wavy portion of the cutting edge defining the recess 1S of the cutting edge. This arrangement enhances the cutting efficiency of the edge While nevertheless providing a substantial stop against driving of the ax blade all the way through the sheet'metal or other panel being chopped, so that the stop and fulcrum linger 17 will be in back-out fulcruming position before the end of the chopping stroke. The fulcruming action of the linger 17 is facilitated by the convexly curved tip portion 18 thereof into which the base extremity -of the cutting edge 13 merges from the angular-ly generally outwardly oblique portion of the cutting edge leading from the depth of recess 15 in the cutting edge along the inner side of the linger 17 to the convex fulcruming extremity 18.

It will be appreciated, of course, that -although the ax blade of the present invention is especially Iadapted to chop through panel material such as sheet metal, it may also be utilized to chop other structures especially of a debris nature in rescue operations, including wooden members, since the cutting edge 13 is continuous and sharp. Y

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

l. An ax head for cutting metals, comprising: an ax head body having a handle or at least an opening therein to receive a handle and a cutting blade extending generally in the direction of the handle or opening, said blade having leading and trailing edges with a cutting edge extending across a part of the blade from the leadingedge in a direction generally diagonally toward the handle or opening and the trailing edge, said cutting edge having alternate portions sloping toward the handle or opening joined by step portions generally parallel to the handle or opening, said portions merging gently to form a wavy cutting edge; :an 4integral stop leg for arresting movement of the head through metal, said leg extending from the trailing edge in a direction diagonally toward the handle or -opening and the leading edge, said leg having a sharpened arcuate portion joining said wavy cutting edge and said stop leg.

2. An ax head as delined in claim l, wherein the stop leg has the extremity portion thereof curved toward said trailing edge to facilitate back-out fulcrum rocking thereof against an opposing surf-ace.

3. An ax head as defined in claim l, wherein said cutting edge is of substantially V-shape cross-section and of greatest root width in said arcuate portion.

4. An ax head as defined in claim l, wherein the end of the cutting edge joining said leading edge is provided with a sharp penetrating point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

